Supporting Tibetan Refugees through a glass bead making project |
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| In August 2007, we had the good fortune to spend three weeks in Dharamsala, a lovely village located in the Dhalaudar mountain range of North India. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has made his residence in exile in Dharamsala and a fairly large Tibetan refugee community has settled in the area. |
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| Without a doubt, the very best part of our trip was getting to know quite a few Tibetans. Tibetans are the friendliest, nicest and most gentle people we’ve ever met. We were amazed to see how, in spite of all the hardship they have suffered and of having being dispossessed of their own country, they remain truly a contented, kind and peaceful people. |
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| Some of the Tibetan friends we made had recently fled from China. We learned from them that thousands of Tibetans escape every year from political oppression, lack of religious freedom or simply because they want to be close to the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader. (In China, it is not permitted to have images of the Dalai Lama, not even at home). Refugees undertake a perilous journey, walking for two to four weeks across the mountains to evade Chinese border patrols, in the hope of getting through to Nepal and from there to India. When they finally arrive to Dharamsala, they have only what they managed to carry with them and often little or no money left for food and shelter. |
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| Unemployment among Tibetan refugees has become an increasingly pressing problem, so in November 2003 the Tibetan Unemployed Co-operative Society (TUCS) was formed to help with the creation of transitional jobs for Tibetan refugees. The employment opportunities created by TUCS now include painting, cooking, trek guiding, child-minding, etc. The organization is also active in helping to promote and preserve Tibetan culture. |
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| One of key projects overseen by TUCS is the manufacture of glass beads. The project started in December 2004 with the advice and help from Lisa Aagaard, a professional glass bead maker from Denmark, who helped to set up a well equipped workshop and train Tibetan refugees in the skill of “beading”. |
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| The beads are made using Murano glass, directly imported from Italy. Murano is a small island north of Venice, famous all over the world for the unique quality of its glass. |
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| The workers melt the glass over an open flame until it has the right viscosity. The basic shape of the bead is given and then the relevant design and details are added. No paints or additives are added in the process, so the beauty of these handmade beads comes from having the right combination of coloured glass. As beads cool down slowly, the vivid colours are revealed. |
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| Workers get paid a fair salary for their work, which allows them to cover all their food, shelter and basic expenses. All the profits are re-invested to develop new opportunities for young, unemployed Tibetans. |
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| Since we feel a strong affinity with Tibetan refugees and their cause, we have decided to support them by selling some of the jewellery they make on our website. To begin with, we hand-picked several lovely matching sets of earrings, bracelets and necklaces. |
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| We will put aside all the profits come from the sales of these items to develop a new income generation project together with TUCS. If you would like to be kept informed of progress, please sign up to our free newsletter (using the sign up button on our homepage). |
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